How To Install Ashita

1. Download Ashita

To begin, you need to download the latest version of the Ashita v3 launcher. This file will download all the additional files required to make Ashita work. This launcher also keeps all of Ashita's supported files, addons and plugins up to date automatically each time you launch it. You will want to download and place this file into a new folder by itself because it will download and create other files once it is opened!

2. Install Ashita

Next, you need to place Ashita.exe into a new folder by itself. As stated above, this file downloads multiple other files and will place them into the same folder with the Ashita.exe. Rather than flooding a folder with various things, it's best to place the Ashita.exe into a folder such as:
C:\Ashita\Ashita.exe

It is NOT recommended to put Ashita anywhere in the same folder where you have FFXI installed! Please do not do this!

3. Running Ashita

Once you have downloaded and placed the Ashita.exe into its own folder, simply run it. It will start by creating a few folders and files, then begin downloading all the core files of the program. Once done, you will be presented with a list of default profiles that you can make use of, edit or delete. These profiles help you connect to retail and private servers.

Ashita requires Administrative permissions to fully run properly. Be sure to run Ashita as an Administrator otherwise you may have issues with it properly launching and injecting into PlayOnline or the private server boot loader.

To run as an Administrator, right-click Ashita.exe and choose 'Run As Administrator'.

4. Using The Ashita Launcher

Below you will find some screenshots and information regarding each part of the Ashita launcher. These features are subject to change without warning and these screenshots and information may not reflect the current version of the launcher.

Main Screen

Top-bar navigation shortcuts. Clicking these will open up various helpful websites regarding the Ashita project.

Global: Opens the main Ashita homepage.

Messages: Opens the Ashita forums homepage.

Book: Opens this wiki documentation homepage.

Bug: Opens the Ashita bug reports homepage.

Minus: Minimizes Ashita.

X (Close): Closes Ashita.

The known configuration files that can be used to boot the game.

The configuration play / launch button to run the selected configuration.

The navigation system of the launcher to view the different parts of the launcher. (Configurations, Addons, Plugins, About, etc.)

The selected configuration navigation shortcuts. Clicking these will affect the selected configuration.

Plus: Creates a new configuration file.

Pencil: Edits the current selected configuration file.

Trashcan: Deletes the current selected configuration file.

Arrows: Refreshes the configuration list to find and update the UI of new files that may have been edited or added.

Creates a desktop shortcut to the selected configuration file on the users desktop.

Configuration Editor

The (optional) configuration name. Using this will override what shows in the main configuration list of Ashita.

The boot configurations. This is how Ashita launches the game.

File: The boot file to use when launching.

Retail: Leave file blank while playing on retail.

Private Servers: Set the file to the custom boot loader being used for what server you play on. Ashita comes with the default boot loader used on most private servers.

Command: The command arguments passed to the game when launched.

Retail: To create the FFXI shortcut icon within PlayOnline, set this to: /game eAZcFcB

Private Servers: This will usually contain the command line arguments to connect to a private server. Can also include your username and password to quick-login.

Script: The default text script (located within the Ashita /scripts/ folder) to execute when Ashita launches.

Test Server: (Deprecated) Used to toggle Ashita to work with Final Fantasy XI's official test server.

Close Launcher On Boot: Toggles if Ashita should close itself after the game has been launched.

The configuration navigation for the various options that can be altered within Ashita.

The 'Save' icon to save the edits to the configuration file and return to the previous screen.

General Window configurations that can be turned on and off.

Windowed Mode: Toggles if the game should be ran in windowed mode or fullscreen mode.

Show Border: Toggles if the window border should be shown while in windowed mode.

Unhook Mouse: Toggles if Ashita should unhook mouse 'snapping' features that XI has with menus and such. (Prevents the game from moving your mouse itself.)

Window Resolution configurations that alter how the window sizes are handled.

Window Size: The X and Y resolutions of the overall game window.

Startup Position: The X and Y screen offset of where FFXI should open initially. (Using -1 here will center the window on that axis.)

Background Size: The X and Y background resolution size of FFXI. (Using -1 here will use the value currently in the system registry.)

Menu Size: The X and Y menu resolution size of FFXI. (Using -1 here will use the value currently in the system registry.)

Language configurations to adjust how Ashita handles the games language.

PlayOnline: The PlayOnline language that you have installed. (This does not alter how languages appear in-game. This is just used to locate the proper install path from the registry for the game.)

Ashita Resources: The language that Ashita should default to when its resources are used within the addons and plugins.

The level of debug logging that Ashita will use to help developers while debugging addons and plugins. (Logs are saved to the /logs/ folder.)

Direct3D Buffer Count: The amount of buffers the game should make use of.

Direct3D Swap Effect: The swap effect that the game should make use of. (Useful for enforcing vsync if needed.)

Registry game settings that FFXI makes use of. Ashita can alter these settings directly within the launcher per-configuration.

The tooltips of these settings can help determine the best settings to use for maximum quality for those looking to make FFXI look better.

Addons and Plugins

The addon or plugin name and description explaining what the addon/plugin does.

The installed flag if the addon/plugin has been installed.

The download icon to download the addon/plugin.

The addon/plugin support links for the projects homepage repository and bug reports.

Please note; addons and plugins will not automatically load just by downloading them! You need to edit your Default.txt (or whichever text script your configuration uses) and add the commands to load these there! Or you can manually load them ingame with the appropriate command for each.